-sitting in section 115, row 9, seat 21-not only was it an aisle seat, but I was closer to the court (by 3 rows) than the last time I was at Staples (sat on the opposite end of the court, row 13).

-Kobe & Odom tag teaming in the first when the rest of the Lakers were almost asleep.

-Not having a bout of stomach cramps due to the food ate ala the last game I went to at Staples (Gasol's #1 Laker home game-against the Hawks).

-Despite the shoddy defense (for the 2nd game in a row), the Lakers did manage a victory tonight, thus maintain their position ontop of the Western Conference (by a mere half game, though, over the Spurs).

-After the Lakers dropped my first game at Staples this season (back in November against the Hornets), they have now won the last 3 games I've attended.

The Bad:

-There were too many druken idiots sitting near me, including three very annoying Raptors fans.

-For whatever reason, it was a conga line of movement throught section 115 during alot of the game: my neck got cramped by the 2nd quarter from having to look around bodies blocking my view.

The Horrendous:

-The couple sitting next to me (75% of the 3 very annoying Raptors fans in my section): A) the boyfriend was taking photos with his digital camera every chance he got, acting like the court/setting around us was going to change into something completely different by the time the game was over; B) the girlfriend: was in & out of her seat so often during the game, I almost had the nerve to ask her this question: "How much do you gals from Canada charge, anyway?".

-David Stern needs to outlaw the use of thundersticks in any NBA arena: being surrounded by the constant clacking of those sticks throughout the 2nd half reminded me of how much I loathe the California Anaheim Santa Ana OCTA Angels for making those things really popular here in SoCal after their championship run back in 2002.

The Lakers must have a somewhat coherent defensive plan for tonight's game against the Hornets, or else it's going to be the repeat of the same **** in the last 2 games (over 100 points allowed to the Kings & Raptors.